


one, two, three

by harukkum



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Anxiety Attacks, Friendship, Gen, Jihoon&Minghao are roommates/bffs, M/M, Panic Attacks, Unbeta'd, gyuhao romantic side pairing, hoonhao friendship centric, lapslock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-24
Updated: 2016-11-24
Packaged: 2018-09-01 20:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8636821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harukkum/pseuds/harukkum
Summary: “take deep breaths — inhale and exhale whenever i count to three,” jihoon instructs.“one,” minghao sucks in sharply, being reminded to slow down with a gentle pat on his arm. “two,” he’s hyperventilating just a bit, but his nerves are already calming down at the sound of jihoon’s voice. “three,” his exhale is slow, shaky to keep his pace steady to get past the next ‘one’ and ‘two’.





	

**Author's Note:**

> i wanted to go for a more friendship-centric fic rather than romance ;; and i see that jihoon & minghao aren't written together very often? or rather aren't written together as close companions from what i see. romance is still present! but it's minor. ; v ; please enjoy though aaaaah.
> 
> i'm emphasizing right now that there's quite a few scenes where minghao experiences anxiety/panic attacks rather briefly so please don't read this if you're sensitive to it ;;

minghao crosses the corridor to his shared apartment, unclipping his keys from his belt loop with shaking hands. he gets through the doorway after unlocking it, struggling to close it right after. jihoon watches from their dinner table as the younger fumbles with locking their front door in silence, choosing to observe his friend a bit more before approaching him. it’s when minghao’s toeing off his sneakers does the older move from his place at the table to their sofa, slowly reaching for minghao’s hands to guide him closer to him.

the younger brunet is nestled right against him, body curled so that his head rests at the junction of jihoon’s collarbone and shoulder; he can feel his friend trembling. it’s unexpected of him to be one for skinship, but jihoon has a small soft spot when it comes to him; an arm reaches up to gently scratch at minghao’s scalp while the other slides up and down his forearm.

“take deep breaths — inhale and exhale whenever i count to three,” jihoon instructs.

“one,” minghao sucks in sharply, being reminded to slow down with a gentle pat on his arm. “two,” he’s hyperventilating just a bit, but his nerves are already calming down at the sound of jihoon’s voice. “three,” his exhale is slow, shaky to keep his pace steady to get past the next ‘one’ and ‘two’. the cycle repeats for several minutes, just until the trembling subsides to slow breaths brushing gently against the fabric of jihoon’s shirt and his counting fades to be quiet mumbles. his hand continues petting the younger, while the other moves down to pat minghao’s thigh as a sort of reassurance.

“you okay, myungho-ah?”

he’s patient for him, knowing whatever induced him into this state definitely got him bad. he stays silent though, giving all of his attention to him.

minghao slowly untangles himself from his roommate, only a hand left holding onto the fabric of his shirt lying on top of his stomach. jihoon doesn’t mind — he knows that it helps anchor him after these events. he nods, quietly uncurling his fingers away from the other. the older takes that as a sign, leaving the couch for a short moment to pour him a glass of water. minghao takes the glass with much gratitude, gulping down it’s contents until there’s not a drop left and the other’s plucking it out of his hands to leave it on the dining table.

jihoon returns to his place beside his friend, petting his head gently as he waits for minghao to speak. he’s not one to usually give advice, but he gives others a better ear for listening.

“…..can you get me a mace, jihoonie hyung?”

the older raises an eyebrow at the sudden need for a weapon, but finds that he’s nodding. it’s for a good reason, he reasons to himself.

“i —,” minghao chews on his lip. jihoon waits for him to continue at his own pace. “i don’t think i’m going back to that dance studio anymore.”

“the one near the train station?”

minghao nods, scratching the back of his hand as his gaze drops to jihoon’s feet propped up on the table. “i thought you said no feet on the table?”

he lifts them off, readjusting himself so that he’s sitting on top of one of his legs instead as the other hangs off the sofa. “that’s fine. i think the one near our place is gonna open soon — soonyoung told me registration is open now.”

“soonyoung hyung?” his eyes move back up to look the other. “how does he know about it?”

jihoon’s lips quirk into a small grin, his hand on minghao’s head retracting onto his lap. “he’s one of the co-owners. wanted to keep it a surprise until grand opening.”

minghao shoots up from his seat in excitement, but is stopped by his roommate, compromising to entertain themselves binge watching a drama they’ve recently gotten themselves into.

/

words people would say when they think of lee jihoon: a gremlin, the epitome of death if you pressed the wrong buttons, silent, intimidating.

words minghao would say when he thinks of lee jihoon: hyung, substitute mom-dad, gets too immersed to the point he forgets meals, a good person, someone to mess with on a good day.

jihoon’s reaction to both: what the fuck.

and really, he just says that out of reflex rather than actual shock.

most of the time, people would pass him with a pressed smile that he knows is more out of courtesy than anything genuine; minghao smiles at jihoon when in a good mood and not completely focused on work.

it’s something he’s gotten used to after dorming together their first year of college (jihoon really needed that gap year for work, and not stress about school so close following his graduation). it’s their second year living together, and they’ve agreed that it’s much better to just share an apartment. there weren’t any curfews that way — just occasional texts to make sure the other was alive.

but something jihoon’s noticed about minghao: he’s destructive when he’s out of it. whether it be _actually_ breaking things in their home, or an internal bomb is ticking off in him to rip out his hair, it’s not a pleasant sight to see. he’s learned after the third instance that it’d probably be best to not have his roommate try to destroy everything. he learns after the seventh on how to handle minghao.

and then they begin to understand each other better after those instances.

/

they’ve set boundaries, of course.

01\. no one touches recording equipment inside the apartment except jihoon.  
02\. do not go near any of … whatever hangs inside of minghao’s room.  
03\. we share laundry, but separate the colours for fucks sake.

just to name a few, anyways.

there’s one thing that goes unsaid for the both of them though, not needing any vocalization at all:

they back each other up.

it came with the breakdowns, the burst of emotions when walls fell, and vulnerability overtook them both. that’s why jihoon has a soft spot for his roommate; that’s why minghao turns to him.

/

when jihoon spots minghao about thirty feet away with some guy twisting his arm, his legs take him automatically to the younger and grabs the stranger’s arm.

“and you are?” he questions, an impenetrable glare narrows at the tall stranger.

the stranger flinches, lets go of minghao in that moment and holds up both of his arms in defense.

“uh — kim mingyu.. i just wanted to—,” he’s cut off by jihoon in an instant.

“what did you need with myungho then, mingyu-ssi?”

minghao watches the exchange in silence, both hands curling around the strap of his book bag.

mingyu steps back a few feet from them, fumbling with his own backpack to pull something free from the sandwich of books in his bag. he holds it out to the both of them with both hands. “myungho just— he left this in the library earlier. i didn’t want to bother him during class to give back to him so, here.” it’s the notebook he uses to choreograph.

minghao shuffles forward, standing side-by-side with his companion as he takes back the book. “ahh, i was wondering where this was…” his gaze shifts from the notebook in his hands up to mingyu, and a grin splits on his lips. “thank you then, mingyu,” he says, dropping eye contact to pack away in his bag.

in that moment, jihoon notices mingyu’s falter in character. his eyes widened, hands suddenly tense as he watches for a few moments, only melting when it occurs to them that they aren’t alone. the older only narrows his eyes more before turning to minghao. “myungho-ah, let’s just get chicken for dinner. i’m too drained to cook tonight.”

“of course you are, hyung,” the younger rolls his eyes but still smiles. “let’s head back home then. see you mingyu!” he waves at him before dragging jihoon along with him back to the apartment.

something tells him that won’t be the last he hears of kim mingyu, and it only makes him more protective of his roommate.

/

and it isn’t.

the next time he even hears the name ‘mingyu’ is when minghao’s rushing in through the door from his last lecture and hyperventilating. like that, jihoon’s already on the couch with a hand on the younger’s back. he waits.

“h… hyung,” minghao’s eyes are shaking — they’re trembling as much as his hands are. “mingyu asked me out — what do i do?”

jihoon may not know much of his roommate’s past, but after seeing his reaction to the dance studio incident, it didn’t seem like he was the best with, these kinds of relationships.

he rubs gentle circles in his back, attempting to collect words to help soothe the younger.

“what _did_ you do, for starters?”

minghao’s clutching onto his phone as he kneads his bottom lip between his teeth.

“i just — i handed him my phone? i couldn’t… i couldn’t say anything. i don’t know what i was doing.” and he begins to hyperventilate again.

jihoon’s already handing him a paper bag to breathe into, still rubbing circles in his back to calm him down.

“give me your phone then?” he asks for it rather than pressing to have it handed over. the brunet gives it to him without hesitance.

04\. no looking through phones unless there’s 100% good reason to.

and jihoon taps in minghao’s passcode, spotting an unread message notification — the sender being none other than kim mingyu himself.

“you have a message from him. want me to read it to you?”

the younger freezes for a moment before he slowly nods his head, slowly reaching to clutch onto the sleeve of jihoon’s hoodie.

“‘hi myungho! are you free this weekend?’” he recites and turns to his friend. “do you want to reply or can i?”

he gestures for the older to do it instead.

“‘mingyu-ssi, this is myungho’s roommate speaking. what do you plan on doing this weekend with him?’ — is that okay?”

“…can you ask if you can come along too?”

that makes his eyebrows raise past his bangs — this was definitely a first. he doesn’t question it though.

“then, ‘mingyu-ssi, this is myung’s roommate speaking. what do you plan on doing this weekend with him? could i come along too?’”

minghao nods, and he sends the message off before setting the device down on their coffee table.

by now, the younger’s reduced to a relaxed slab of mochi leaning on him.

“wanna finish pinnochio now?”

and he nods.

/

 **kim mingyu:**  
to the aquarium, is that okay?

 **kim mingyu:**  
also, sure! the more the merrier ㅅㅂㅅ

the roommates are gonna assume that last bit is an emoji.

/

the date (if you can even call it that) goes like this:

they all meet up at the subway station nearby said aquarium, jihoon and minghao are basically attached to each other by the hip, and mingyu’s trying his best to appease the both of them and also free food.

there’s no reason for minghao to use the mace jihoon gives him, nor any reason to think about it being present in the inside pocket of his hoodie.

so all in all, it goes well. mingyu still doesn’t get jihoon’s full seal of approval though.

/

minghao still needs jihoon the second time mingyu asks him out, but at least agrees to just having him close by rather than actually joining their party of two.

the mace isn’t used this time either, and the older thinks this is the first time he’s seen his friend smile so much with another person other than him. it makes him smile a bit too.

/

it’s probably during the third month of the two seeing each other does something bump and he’s faced with his roommate stumbling in through the door and heading straight for him (thankfully he’s seated on the sofa this time) to curl into. minghao’s shaking against him and jihoon’s so fucking ready to kill mingyu already, but first he needs the other to calm down. his arms wrap around the shriveling ball, patting his head gently against his shoulder.

“shhh. myungho, can you hear me?”

nods.

he pets him a few moments and whistles white noise for his shaking to lessen.

“breathe in on the count of 3 and out on the second count, okay, myungho?”

another nod.

“one,

“two,

“three.”

/

he finds out it’s because of a sudden kiss and embrace that sets minghao off running back to their apartment, taking it as the gigantic puppy not knowing that he would react in such a way. and really, jihoon would kill him, if not for the fact that he really didn’t know better.

but then he does kill him for having blown up his phone after that episode.

/

 **kim mingyu:**  
jIH OO N HY UNG

 **kim mingyu:**  
H YU N GGH

 **kim mingyu:**  
H Y UNGWHW AT DID I DO TO MY UNGH O

 **kim mingyu:**  
WHA T’D I DO

 **kim mingyu:**  
WHA T DO I D O

 **kim mingyu:**  
HE HA TES ME OH MYG OD

 **kim mingyu:**  
HYu ng!!

 **kim mingyu:**  
oh my god hyung he hates me doesn’t he

 **kim mingyu:**  
ple ase t ell h immi’m so sos rry for wha te ver i did

 **kim mingyu:**  
i sjut wa nted to kiss hi m and h ygu him

 **kim mingyu:**  
i did dn;t kwno w tha t was ba d i’ms sos orry for hurrt ing h im

/

 **lee jihoon:**  
calm down.

 **lee jihoon:**  
you didn’t know any better. he’s okay now.

 **lee jihoon:**  
make sure he can see what you’re doing or warn him when you’re about to do something so he doesn’t get triggered.

 **lee jihoon:**  
come by tomorrow, you can come see him after breakfast.

/

 **kim mingyu:**  
tht an ks hy ugn

 **lee jihoon:**  
are you crying or do you seriously suck at typing.

 **kim mingyu:**  
thefo rr me r

/

minghao’s still quietly munching on a bowl of oatmeal in front of the television when the door rings; jihoon’s the one opening it instead.

“myungho-ah! you’ve got a visitor,” he calls out from the doorway.

at that, his head twists to catch sight of a terribly put together mingyu standing at their door, the whites and rims of his eyes tinted red, and bags hanging under his eyes. it hurts minghao’s heart looking at this sight.

he pats down on the seat next to him on the sofa while jihoon moves to sit at the dining table just a few feet away from them and watches them quietly.

it doesn’t seem like mingyu minds very much at all, allowing himself to keep a bit of space away from the other as he keeps his eyes down on his hands on his lap. minghao’s the first to speak up after he sets aside his oatmeal.

“mingyu, i — i’m sorry about yesterday,” he sighs softly and slowly reaches a hand over to place on top of the other’s. “i know you meant well. i can’t, uhm. i can’t handle surprises like that — it’s part of why i don’t have surprise parties,” he tries to joke, laughing quietly but clears his throat when he gets no reaction from the taller brunet.

“i just, i need a warning from now on.”

jihoon can hear how choked up he sounds. he’s probably not the only one in pain from hearing it.

mingyu twists his hand so that their palms are against each other, gently squeezing it as he looks at minghao with a small smile.

“you don’t need to tell me why. i’ll warn you, don’t worry.”

and minghao smiles back.

/

“i swear to god, kim mingyu, if you _dare_ hurt him after all this, i will not hesitate to fucking pulverize you and send you to the next dimension to be sucked into a black hole.”

“jihoon hyung, calm down! sheesh, you’d think after all this time i’d get your full trust for something like this.”

“jihoonie hyung’s like my mom, my dad, and would-be brother all in one — you won’t get his full trust until maybe _after_ you die.”

“that’s cruel! and even after we’re about to get married in like, five minutes.”

“suck it up, buttercup. just be glad myungho’s a lot nicer than me.”

“no kidding.”

**Author's Note:**

> [my writing blog!](http://taeokki.tumblr.com)
> 
> i'll be honest tho,, i've only seen 2 episodes of pinnochio and had to stop because i got too anxious to continue watching a ha haha,,


End file.
